Friends as Rivals
by JojoLoopyt11
Summary: This is a story based after the Naruto series, with regular characters shown, but the main characters are completely new. On their dream to become true powerful shinobi they face many challenges, many with themselves, and not enemies. Will they make it?


**_A Naruto Story_****_: By Jojo and Loopyt11_**

**_(Anything that has to do with a relation to a FanFiction or anything published or not published is a coincidence and we did it on accident. This FanFiction was created just for fun by my friend and I. We hope you enjoy it too. And sorry for any similarities.) _**

****_Whoosh. _I was watching all my classmates in my village, the village hidden in the leaves, practicing for classes to graduate and become real shinobi. Whoops! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Mizuzuki Hotoromo, and I don't make many friends…

As I sat down in the lunchroom I heard shouts behind me, other students were sitting down for lunch, rushing in to get a good seat after training so hard. Pretty soon everyone was settled, but there were only three students at my fairly large and spacious table. But that didn't matter, the space was nice, I got to share it with my friend Sarah, and my other friend Hanako. But surprisingly enough someone came to the table and asked to sit down.

"Hi! Umm… I have no where to sit down, all the tables are taken, can I sit with you guys?" Said the female stranger.

I nodded and moved to make even space around the table. "Hi, my name is Mizuzuki!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm… Umm, Jojo." As she took out her boxed lunch from a heavy looking but small bag another friend who has already graduated and became a ninja, just not a mature one (He obviously ditched a mission to visit me) came up behind her and attempted to tap her on the shoulder. He probably shouldn't have done that, because just as he was about to make contact she punched him, hard. She knew he was there, even though he was an experienced ninja. He probably had his guard down because we were all younger.

"OW! What was that for?!" He painfully asked.

"Please don't touch me."

"Yeah, yeah, okay." He answered sarcastically.

"Want some curry?"

"S-Sure!"

"I wasn't talking to you…"

"Fine! I don't want any anyway!" He yelled as he stormed off.

As I was laughing she asked me if I wanted the curry. "You don't look like you have a lunch, and I always make too much anyway, so I always bring an extra set for people who have nothing to eat."

"Yeah, Ill have some, thanks, and sorry for Naruto, he has a temper. Hey, you're kind of cool; too bad we won't be able to hang out…" I nervously stuttered. "C-Can I tell you a secret?"

"Ok, it won't kill me right?" She laughed. She didn't know how dangerous it was…

I shook my head, deciding to think positive for once. "Well, you see. I kind of have-" Then a booming voice interrupted me,

"OK! Everyone back to class! As you know today is a very important day! Don't be late! Today some of you will become real shinobi!"

I stood up, and said, "Well, best of luck to you. You are not in the same class as me, so I won't know how it turns out for you, so, met up sometime later? We can talk about how things went."

"Sure. See you then! I hope I get a sensei like Anko, she trained me for a while, she is nice, but strict. But she does not do squads, so, my chances are low. And, you can keep the rest of the curry, I have tons at home."

"Oh, I was going to ask to keep it anyway! It is good!" As we said goodbye and parted ways I thought in the back of my mind that we could become friends. And soon after getting to class I got lost in my thoughts and soon fell asleep…

**(A While Later)**

"HEY! Wake up!"

"Huh? What? Jojo, what are you doing in my class?"

"It is not your class anymore, you graduated. But you fell asleep and your squad left without you. Those kids that were at lunch with you, your friends, they are your squad. And your sensei is a scary guy named Kakashi. They are on training field four; you should hurry before you are even later than you already are."

"Ok, Bye! Thanks!" I rushed off and when I was almost there it occurred to me that she was not with her squad. She looks like a good ninja, so she must have passed, but I wondered why she was in my class, well… former class, and not at a training field herself. Well, maybe I should have been paying more attention to where I was running, because I tripped and fell right on my face, right in front of my new squad. Well, ten minutes of torture later I am running into the forest. Half way up a tree I see Jojo, in a tree herself, I can't believe I didn't see her before, she has a perfect view of the training ground my squad is using, but without looking away she waves in acknowledgment of my presence. "Jojo, what are you doing up here?"

"Watching you practice, you? Shouldn't you be down there?" She says pointing to my squad members.

"No, I quit, I'm not going anymore."

"Why not?"

"I have been made fun of enough…"

"So, basically you are telling me you are giving up after years of school and training strictly to become a ninja? Just because you were laughed at and bullied?"

"Uhh…"

"Earn your respect. Go back."

"Ok."

"Ill be rooting for you. It's not like I have a squad to practice with myself."

"Why not?"

"They haven't decided what to do with me yet. I qualified to graduate, but there was an even amount of students, they haven't decided where to put me yet."

"Oh, well, hope it turns out alright for you. Thanks! Bye!"

"Bye."

As I rushed off to meet back up with my squad members I thought of what to do to make my friends respect me. Kakashi answered my question when he said we would be sparing with each other. The only problem was that since I left, Sarah and Hanako were already set up to spar, and I didn't have a partner. To everyone's surprise, a kunai sped out of the tree where only I knew Jojo was, and there was a note attached. It landed at Kakashi's feet, when he was done reading it he declared, "Ok, we have a new member of our squad today!" My squad members were surprised, well, not as surprised as Jojo, she fell out of the tree. She didn't even notice the pain. She was just smiling. I hadn't seen her smile yet. In the day I got to know her she always looked bored. "Well, seeing as we now have a fourth member, we have enough people, and a partner for Hotoromo to spar with."

"Please, call me 'Hoto'"

First up to spar were Sarah and Hanako. Hanako is a quiet but skilled ninja. Sarah is Confident, overwhelming, and strong. I thought right away that Sarah would win. But after studying the battlefield, and the opponents, Jojo whispered to me that Hanako would win. I couldn't see how, but I believed her, and when Hanako won, even though Sarah put in all of her power and energy, we were not surprised at all. Well, maybe a little… Next was our battle. "So, it is our battle now?" I asked as I sized my opponent up. Jojo is short, she wears combat ready cloths, and her long brown-reddish hair is tied up in a ponytail, and she obviously doesn't like ponytails. Me, on the other hand, I wear a blue jumpsuit, I don't have many pockets, so I can't hold many weapons, and that is a disadvantage. So I will have to use them sparingly, and do some fist combat until I know how she works. Neither one of us is confident, but I have to be careful, because her prediction on the last battle was not a guess, she is hiding how smart she is. Comparing her small size, a direct approach will be better for me. The battle starts, and she is watching for me to make a move, or waiting for an opportunity. I concentrate and close my eyes to visualize an attack, which, isn't very smart, because before I realize we are not in school anymore and do not have time to waist, she takes her chance to throw a kunai and forces me to dodge, which gets me off balance and she crashes me to the ground. So that is her strategy, to use distant range attacks, where I cannot get her, to make me have to use all my long range weapons to give her an advantage. Instead of avoiding using my kunai and shuriken I just throw them right at her. She catches one and uses it to deflect the rest. Out of options, I charge at her and act as if I am going to attack but I really grab a shuriken and throw it in the air. "I have a trick up my sleeve!" I confidently yell. I then jump into the air and prepare to launch an attack. She must have expected that because she throws a senbon needle to counter and I have to retreat. I attempt my attack once more, yelling "Secret technique, Galaga Shuriken!" I'm going to use her strategy on her; I throw the shuriken at her and then run to where she will have to dodge to. Instead, she barely moves, letting herself get cut by the edge of the shuriken, and then launched three consecutive kunai at me, everyone of them hits their target. I am pinned to a tree, but uninjured. She uses the time it takes to free myself to make some hand signs and creates a fire wall that forces me to stay still. giving both of us time, I make some hand signs for myself, and when the firewall clears I yell, "Mizuzuki Hotoromo TwoK Barrage!" and land multiple hits on her. Suddenly hit by great force, she staggers back and grabs my shirt and throws me to the ground before falling over herself. Both of us being greatly weakened the first person to get up will have the advantage, unfortunately it is her. And she grabs another kunai and holds it to my throat.

"I think I win this match." She says, looking very tired. Kakashi tells us that she wins, and that if it were a true battle, I would have been dead. But I can barely hear them talking because all I can focus on is a tail growing and my nails sharpening to claws. Jojo, clearly seeing that something is wrong, backs away. After transforming into a blue and gold beast, I loose my senses, and feel like I am seeing something through someone else's eyes. Still my eyes. But I have no control. I tackle her to the ground, almost crushing her, and she barely gets away. "Umm, Hoto, the battle is over!" I chase her around and she disappears, I look around, and try to find where she is. I am able to I get my own control back, and as fast as I can, before loosing control again, I knock myself out, as I am losing consciousness, I see everyone looking at me, they are panicked, scared, and confused. I feel so bad.

Finally waking back up I only see Kakashi next to me. He doesn't look worried; he is just looking at me as if he is trying to find a way to tell me something. All he says is, "We can't find her, you are her friend, do you know where she might be?"

"No…" I say looking upset and sickly.

"Well, you did this; it is your job to find her." Looking for someone that doesn't want to be found is very hard... After about two hours of searching I eventually found her. She looks hurt, but once she saw me she took out a kunai and put on a tough face. Seeing that I no longer had a tail she let herself relax if only a little bit. Finally looking at my surroundings I notice I am at a lake, and that there is a fluff ball on her shoulder.

"What is that?" I ask.

"This is my friend, he is a hamster." She explains. "Hey, Guess what."

"What?"

"I won."

"You could've been killed if I wasn't in control!"

"But you were in control, well, now you are..."

"Well, sorta…" Apparently I made her friend mad, because he jumped at me and bit me. "What the heck is wrong with that thing?!"

"Well, he is a hamster, not a mouse but like one. He is cleaner, smarter, and actually has a personality, so don't irritate him."

"Ok, that is noted. Anyway we should get back to Kakashi."

"Yeah, but you need to get changed first."

"What?" But then I look down, and my cloths are half shredded, the people I walked by over the two hours I was looking must have been very confused. After I return and we are all settled, I decide to ask a question, "Kakashi, when can I be a Real Real ninja like you?"

"When you can control THAT." Jojo interrupted.

"Alright! I'm sorry!" I yelled out.

"I will accept you as a ninja when you can defeat me in a battle." Kakashi explained.

"Can we team you? Like a one versus two?" I pestered.

"Yeah sure, but not right now."

"Jojo, you in?" I questioned her.

"Well, only if I am not against you, I am fine with it." She responded. And that response made me feel bad, but it made me feel powerful, I am a threat to many rivals now, and she is my greatest one.


End file.
